OJ the PA

I just finished what I'm lovingly calling "Hell Week."  Monday: PAEA Emergency Medicine Exam and Pediatrics Exam (2 hours a piece) Tuesday: End of Rotation OSCE exam Wednesday: study day Thursday: End of Curriculum OSCEs - this included a technical skills test on suturing, two small exams regarding diagnostics, an OSCE and a patient education OSCE Friday: End of Curriculum PAEA Exam (five. hours. long.)  By the end of the week, I was wiped out. I think I had a glass of wine (or two) while I watched Ozark Friday night. It's a bit of a blur, haha.  I know that I passed my End of Rotation stuff, because I needed to pass before I could take my End of Curriculum exams. But sadly, I won't know the results of those exams until this week Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for me! And while it feels like I'm done, now that those exams are over, it's not over yet. I am starting my last two rotations -- I'll be doing three weeks in orthopedic urgent care and then ...

During PA school clinical year, you learn a lot of things. And one of those things is the many different ways in which you can be exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually ... and many other ways that I can't currently articulate because, you know, I'm tired. 😅 I was a little bit worried about making a decision about a job before I had even tried emergency medicine. I had been told before I even started PA school by a mentor that I would probably end up in emergency. And I could see why -- I like wounds, excitement, drama, stress, action. Sounds right up my alley!  I want to start by saying I think I probably learned the most on this rotation. I had great preceptors (yes, even the guy who almost made me cry was a good teacher), felt like I was building on a solid foundation from my previous rotations, and had the chance to see a wide variety of diagnoses. From STIs to broken bones, head lacs to gunshot wounds (including one with a retained bullet in the rectum)...

Time flies when you're doing your clinical rotations and everything that isn't absolutely mandatory goes to the wayside. I've been MIA for a few months from this blog, but alas, that's life as a PA student. Let's get caught up, shall we? When I had been thinking about my future job, I wanted to end up in some “sexy” specialty like ICU or surgery (assuming I wasn’t the type to pass out in the OR, which luckily, I wasn’t!). Family medicine had always been at the bottom of my interest list. I went into this rotation thinking, “let’s just get this over with.” Boy, was I wrong about what I thought family medicine was! I get to build relationships. I can do procedures like toenail removal and cyst removal. I even helped with a few vasectomies! I get to see adorable little babies. I get to know what actually happens in the long run with my patients (rather than discharge and disappear). And best of all, I am challenged daily. The breadth of things I need to know to care fo...